I.] THE POTTING SHED COMPOSTS 5 



raw material of his composts, and where lie concealed 

 the real secrets of his art. 



In a secluded corner of the garden some sort of 

 rough shed should shelter one small heap of cowhouse 

 manure, a second of sods taken from an old pasture, 

 and yet another of leaf-mould two years old ; a wooden 

 box with coarse Reigate (or other gritty) sand, a second 

 containing cocoanut fibre, a third, with a half barrow 

 or so of peaty mould, and a can of soot. From such 

 a store almost any sort of compost suitable for any 

 sort of plant can be made up on the shortest notice. 

 For example, if the supply of Dutch roots has arrived 

 and you require to pot Hyacinths, or Daffodils, or Tulips, 

 or if you wish to pot off such soft-wooded plants as 

 seedlings Cinerarias, or Chinese Primulas into their 

 first pots, the mixture would be something of this kind : 

 Turfy loam, two parts ; leaf mould, one part ; sand, 

 one part, adding a sprinkling of soot and cocoanut fibre ; 

 or if you are potting Fuchsias, or other such hard-wooded 

 plants, you should use one-third loam, one-third sand, 

 one-third peat; while for Heaths, Rhododendrons, and 

 Azalias, two-thirds peat and one-third sand is best ; 

 adding for Ferns some of the rotted sods and leaf mould. 



If broken pot-sherds have accumulated, and you have 

 more than you are likely to require for drainage, they 

 make an exceedingly good substitute for sand when 

 ground into fine grit on a flat stone. It is much better 

 for taking the place of Reigate sand than the fine loamy 

 sand so often used. 



